My favorite character in Inglourious Basterds is Shosanna Dreyfus. After escaping Col. Landa and his men in the French countryside, she moved to Paris where she ran a small
movie theatre. She was able to stay under the Nazi radar because she was smart and kept a low profile. Shosanna knows what she has to do in order to survive and is able to keep her cool in heated situations, even when she comes face to face with the man responsible for the death of her family. She is the only one in the movie to successfully get rid of the Nazi high command without being found out. She is a strong female character who is brave and ambitious, and rightfully takes revenge on those responsible for the wrongs done to her.
Shosanna’s character is best displayed in two particular scenes: the scene where she is “invited” to lunch with Frederic Zoller and the following scene when she is talking to Landa about the premier of Nation’s Pride being moved to her theatre. Both of these scenes display Shosanna’s ability to appear calm and collected, even when she is scared.
The scene where Shosanna meets up with Frederic Zoller at the restaurant has natural lighting and light dark colors. It is obvious that she feels uncomfortable in this situation and this feeling is emphasized by the frame and camera proxemics. The frame is tight when the whole group is included in the shot, leaving Shosanna on the edge of the screen. When she speaks, the camera focuses only on her and leaves everyone else out of the shot, emphasizing that she is not one of them. When Col. Landa enters, the camera moves to Shosanna’s face, and then slowly up to Landa, as if it was parallel to where she was looking. Since Landa’s face is left out of the shot until Shosanna looks at it, the audience feels as though they are anxiously looking up to meet his gaze along with her. When she is talking to Landa alone, only her face is in the shot and she has very little room to move around in the frame. Once he leaves, the camera slightly moves over, allowing her more space, as she finally begins to breathe.
movie theatre. She was able to stay under the Nazi radar because she was smart and kept a low profile. Shosanna knows what she has to do in order to survive and is able to keep her cool in heated situations, even when she comes face to face with the man responsible for the death of her family. She is the only one in the movie to successfully get rid of the Nazi high command without being found out. She is a strong female character who is brave and ambitious, and rightfully takes revenge on those responsible for the wrongs done to her.
Shosanna’s character is best displayed in two particular scenes: the scene where she is “invited” to lunch with Frederic Zoller and the following scene when she is talking to Landa about the premier of Nation’s Pride being moved to her theatre. Both of these scenes display Shosanna’s ability to appear calm and collected, even when she is scared.
The scene where Shosanna meets up with Frederic Zoller at the restaurant has natural lighting and light dark colors. It is obvious that she feels uncomfortable in this situation and this feeling is emphasized by the frame and camera proxemics. The frame is tight when the whole group is included in the shot, leaving Shosanna on the edge of the screen. When she speaks, the camera focuses only on her and leaves everyone else out of the shot, emphasizing that she is not one of them. When Col. Landa enters, the camera moves to Shosanna’s face, and then slowly up to Landa, as if it was parallel to where she was looking. Since Landa’s face is left out of the shot until Shosanna looks at it, the audience feels as though they are anxiously looking up to meet his gaze along with her. When she is talking to Landa alone, only her face is in the shot and she has very little room to move around in the frame. Once he leaves, the camera slightly moves over, allowing her more space, as she finally begins to breathe.
Nice mise en scene analysis. Your perceptions about the shot are very good, and you do a nice analysis of her character.
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